- YUSUFF ADEBAYO
- September 25, 2021
- 2 minute read
Nigerian travel journalist, Pelu Awofeso, is set to produce a documentary on the exploits of the late bishop and Yoruba linguist, Samuel Ajayi Crowther. Crowther, a Sierra Leonean-Nigerian clergy, was celebrated as the first African Anglican bishop of West Africa.
The documentary will feature a six-man tour of 20 locations within the space of 10 weeks. Some of the cities to be toured for the project double as the places where the late bishop had visited in his lifetime. In his lifetime, Crowther was selected to accompany the missionary, James Schön, on the Niger expedition of 1841.
Together with Schön, he was expected to learn Hausa for use on the expedition. The goal of the tour was to stimulate commerce, teach agricultural techniques, encourage Christianity, and help end the slave trade. Crowther was later recalled to England where he was trained as a minister and ordained by the Bishop of London.
He returned to Africa in 1843 and with Henry Townsend, opened a mission in Abeokuta, Ogun State. He began translating the Bible into Yoruba and compiling a dictionary in the same language. Speaking to Saturday Telegraphy about the documentary, Awofeso said: “This year happens to be a milestone year for the late bishop.
It’ll be his 130 years death anniversary by December 31, 2021. “This year makes it his 200th since his capture as a slave. More than that, there’s so much more about Bishop Ajayi Crowder beyond the fact that he translated the Bible into Yoruba in Badagry when doing that it took decades. “He travelled widely in the lower half of Nigeria, with many landmarks named after him. Bonny Island is where his memory is well preserved. That was where he started his life when he was consecrated Bishop in 1864. Awofeso said he plans to start filming in November and round off by April 2022.
